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Regulation

Editor's picks

Bristol deal ‘could bring WACC back into question’
The CMA’s decision on the cost of capital could be called into question by the premium Pennon Group has paid for Bristol Water, a sector analyst has suggested. Utility Week gauges reaction to the deal and talks to Pennon's chief executive and chief financial officer about integration plans and the possibility of further M&A activity.
News
Ofgem pauses update to household consumption values
Ofgem has confirmed plans to postpone its previously planned update to the Typical Domestic Consumption Values for gas and electricity, along with the Economy 7 consumption split, to give itself more time to assess the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The regulator said it will continue to use the current values in the meantime and instructed industry to do the same.
News
‘Only a matter of time’ before loyalty penalty ban in energy
Following the Financial Conduct Authority's announcement of remedies to tackle the loyalty penalty in the motor and home insurance sectors, Utility Week speaks to a number of energy industry experts to ask for their thoughts on what a similar decision could mean for this sector. One company director believes such a move in energy retail could complement the existing price cap.
News

Featured

It ain’t what you do…
Market-wide half hourly settlement is finally set to become a reality in 2025. But Ofgem’s long-awaited green light for the programme will not achieve a fully flexible energy system on its own. In her latest column exclusively for Utility Week members, Maxine Frerk discusses what else needs to be done to underline the message that timing matters.
Opinion
WPD: Answering our critics
Western Power Distribution chief executive Phil Swift explains how the company has responded to calls to be radical and ambitious in the second draft of its business plan for the RIIO ED2 price controls beginning in 2023.
Opinion
‘Nanny Ofgem is missing the bigger picture’
Ofgem’s proposal to make energy suppliers repay surplus credit balances has received mixed reactions. Is the regulator cracking down on unsustainable business models or choosing short-term wins over a permanent fix for a broken market? Adam John asks what this latest crackdown says about the nature of regulation in energy retail.
Analysis

Latest in Regulation

Customer service satisfaction dips to all-time low
Overall satisfaction with customer service has dipped to an all-time low for the energy sector, research from Ofgem has revealed. The regulator’s quarterly consumer perception of the energy market survey has polled thousands of customers each quarter since Q4 2018.
News
CMA orders National Grid to hold off from taking control of WPD
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ordered National Grid to hold off from taking control of Western Power Distribution, while it considers whether to launch an in-depth investigation into its planned acquisition of the company. National Grid agreed in March to buy the electricity distribution network for £7.8 billion.
News
Carbon impacts need to be baked into flexibility markets
Flexibility markets should factor in carbon impacts, rather than just prioritising delivery at the lowest cost, an industry expert has urged. Jeff Hardy, a senior research fellow at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London, also called for greater integration between markets at the local and national level to enable providers to “stack up” deals.
News
DNOs seek funding for heat, flexibility and local energy projects
Electricity networks are seeking £29 million of funding through Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition for projects exploring demand from heat pumps, flexibility trading and smart local energy systems. The regulator has published the submissions for the four out of six projects that made it through the initial screening process.
News
How can utilities accelerate the UK’s journey to net zero?
As the UK ramps up its efforts to achieve its decarbonisation aims, the energy and utilities sector is at the forefront of the fight against climate change. Carl Haigney, global vice president and head of retail utilities subsector at Capgemini, outlines several challenges both the sector and the government must overcome in order to set the nation on the right track towards decarbonisation. For Haigney, cutting red tape and providing the right incentives will be key.
Opinion
Octopus warns UK disruptors may be forced to seek growth overseas
Octopus Energy chief executive Greg Jackson has told Utility Week the company may have to invest in growth overseas because of the slow pace of market reform in the UK. Jackson said he was animated by the future of energy but cautioned “I’m not excited about the pace of change and the market structures that disincentivise innovation”.
News
Brearley: The job of regulators is changing
Ofgem’s chief executive has said he wants to “bottle the spirit of co-operation that supported our industries through the pandemic and use that collaboration to drive our progress to net zero”.
News
Guaranteeing 24/7 clean power
EnergyTag announced last week that more than 100 organisations, including the utilities Centrica, Vattenfall and Engie, the tech giants Google and Microsoft and the US federal government had joined its global initiative to improve the transparency around green energy by creating an international framework for hourly renewable energy generation certificates. Utility Week spoke to its founder Toby Ferenczi to find out more.
News
Term ‘decarbonisation’ best avoided in public debate
'Decarbonisation’ is not well understood as a term used by the energy sector and may best be avoided when communicating with customers, an Ofgem survey has found. The regulator's latest gauge of consumer opinion also found low awareness of changes needed for decarbonisation of heat, including just 13 per cent familiar with the concept of hydrogen for heating.
News
Emergent Energy admitted to regulatory sandbox to trial green microgrids
Ofgem has admitted Emergent Energy to its new “regulatory sandbox,” which allows innovators to receive derogations from specific rules and regulations so they can trial new products and services. Emergent Energy said this “unique permission” will enable the firm to supply residents in housing developments with green electricity and heat generated onsite through microgrids leased from the developer or landlord.
News
Ofwat proposes changes to price control process for PR24
Ofwat is considering changes to the draft determination process and pushing for national, standardised customer research in the PR24 price control. The regulator also suggests slashing the number of outcomes to focus on areas with long-term significance. Utility Week speaks to senior director Aileen Armstrong.
News
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